HUNDREDS turned out for a suffragette spectacular as Kidderminster celebrated Heritage Day 2018 in style on Saturday.

The centrepiece of the event, organised by the town’s Heritage Opportunities Group (HOGS), was provided by members of the Rose Theatre who recreated the visit of women’s vote campaigner Emmeline Pankhurst in 1912.

The actors told the story in an imaginative street theatre performance, adding a modern women’s rights narrative with references to issues such as domestic abuse, sexual harassment and workplace discrimination.

The placard-waving march through the streets to the town hall – complete with hecklers and a 1912 policeman arresting misbehaving protestors – provided some gripping drama for Saturday shoppers.

Large crowds followed the action to the town hall where Mrs Pankhurst and her supporters along with civic dignitaries gave addresses made more than a century earlier.

HOGS chairman Colin Hill said: “It was a great spectacle which caught the imagination of the public and set the scene for a memorable day.

“We are so grateful to the Rose Theatre and all those other volunteers who played a part in putting on such a thrilling heritage day.”

The day also saw keen interest in talks by local historian Gay Hill who charted the town’s suffragist links, while Kidderminster couple Bill and Dorothy Every drew large audiences for their films of Kidderminster past and present.

And there was a surprise for a Kidderminster woman in the audience during a 1950s film of a civil defence exercise illustrating how the town’s emergency services would react in the event of a nuclear attack on Birmingham.

Rosemary Morgan was shocked to see her mother, who was a member of the town’s Salvation Army, handing out tea to those playing the part of would-be casualties.

She had never seen the film before and said: “It was a really lovely surprise. I was looking out for her because she was also a first aider with the St John Ambulance and I wondered if I might see her. Then at the very end of the film she was shown dishing out tea.”

Heritage day also gave younger visitors the chance to make their own suffragette rosettes and sashes and displays by local history groups and museums were well supported.

Guided tours of the town hall and an opportunity to meet the town mayor Martin Stooke in his Victorian parlour added to the busy programme.